Kennedy's 2019 Samoa Letter Contradicts Congressional Testimony
Documents show RFK Jr. wrote Samoa's PM in 2019 about MMR deaths, contradicting his 2025 testimony that the trip had nothing to do with vaccines.
Freshly surfaced correspondence between Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Samoa's then-prime minister appears to undercut statements the current U.S. health secretary made under oath before Congress this year.
The documents, obtained through a collaborative review, show Kennedy wrote to the Samoan leader in 2019 referencing deaths "associated recently with MMR vaccine" in the Pacific nation. In the letter, Kennedy — then heading the Children's Health Defense organisation — requested permission for his team to conduct a "detailed health informatics assessment" of the situation.
The Samoan prime minister's reply granted the visit and provided background on the island chain's immunisation history.
During two separate congressional hearings in 2025, Kennedy told senators that his trip to Samoa had "nothing to do with vaccines." The newly revealed correspondence directly challenges that characterisation, raising questions about the accuracy of his testimony.
The U.S. Department of State maintains that Kennedy's Samoa visit was "unrelated to vaccines."